The Marma Spot:
Hello Mike. How are you today? Please introduce yourself for
those who do not know who you are.

Mike Mills:
It’s hot today, so I’m hot. I’m trying to make a film, trying to make some graphics that you might take personally, trying to answer all my e-mail,
trying to be a good guardian to my dog.

The Marma Spot:
When you were little what did you want to be/do?

Mike Mills:
First an Architect, then a pro skater, then I hoped my punk band would
be my entree into the world, then, as a last resort I went to art school.

The Marma Spot:
I believe that people aren’t “made” creative but are born that way. I also agree with what you have said about your earlier work “You’re always trying to wear the cool clothes and looking back you realize you didn’t even have your clothes on. No wonder everyone was giving me weird looks!” With that said what was the first “weird look” you got?

Mike Mills:
The first really weird look, and maybe the most powerful weird look was
from myself, in the mirror. I thought I was weird, I thought I was fucked up,
I thought I should be more like you know, Dana and Mandy and Matt and Dave. That was the most damaging weird look.

The Marma Spot:
What interests me most is how a person sustains so many relationships
with so many creative fields. How do you assign ideas in your head to a
specific field?

Mike Mills:
This sounds pretentious, but I think I think of myself as a conceptual artist who likes to work in “public” mediums rather than “private” ones like
art galleries. To me the different career categories are really just false creations of art schools, the people who thought up careers. It’s all one big conversation I’m trying to engage in, there are different parts to the conversation, different ways of talking, short talks and long deep private talks, but it’s all the attempt to communicate, to not be alone, to be a part of things.

The Marma Spot:
Can you walk us through an abridged version of the steps, from your first thoughts to final product, of your first movie?

Mike Mills:
Oh lord, it took 5ish years so that would be long and boring. When the presidential election was on, it reminded me a lot of making a film. It’s that long and that hard. It’s totally unlike anything else I do in that way. And you deal with so much more rejection: all the people that don’t want to be in your film, all the people that don’t want to pay for your film, all the people that in the end don’t like your film, and therefore don’t like you, but they do like writing in the comments sections of websites. But then there are all the people you get to have a long 2 hour, late night, intimate conversation with
(the people that saw your film and liked it!). And these people are from all over the world, they’re all kinds of people. That’s pretty amazing.

The Marma Spot:
There are many things that inspire. What things have you found
inspire you most?

Mike Mills:
It’s most powerful when it’s something you least expected? African pop music, Pierre Bonnard’s paintings, discovering Lorrie Moore’s stories, Michael Polan’s books on the environmental politics of food, what Jane Goodal does, Mad Men, the crazy culture shaping effects of the California Gold Rush, a film you just bumped into like “After Life” by Koreda. I guess by this I’m saying it’s very important to stumble around in the dark, to follow hunches especially if they seem unlikely (sometimes), to be open that thing you used to think was stupid. And that most things aren’t different (for instance a song and a film,
a t-shirt and a political ideology) it just seems like they’re different.

The Marma Spot:
What dreams do you have that you want to become reality?

Mike Mills:
Most of all, I want to make this personal, idiosyncratic film I’ve been working on. Even if we are in a recession, especially if we are in a recession, do you hear me! I mean if the world can take “I Love You Man” or “Ghost of Girlfriends Past” if that utter crap is somehow good or bankable, it can take a shot of this unprocessed food, this sustainably grown film food, this handmade with something real and personal at stake and for one tenth of the costs film. You know?

The Marma Spot:
I have adopted a new personal train of thought “Let’s Begin By Letting Go.”
Is there anything in your life you want to let go of and why?

Mike Mills:
That reminds me of the Corita Kent teaching slogan, “Consider Everything
An Experiment”. Or this very awesome Allen Ginsberg quote on creativity:
“The parts that embarrass you the most are usually the most interesting poetically, are usually the most naked of all, the rawest, the goofiest,
the strangest and most eccentric and at the same time, most representative, most universal…(It’s important to) write things down which you will not publish and which you won’t show people. To write secretly…so you can actually be free to say anything you want… It means abandoning being a poet, abandoning your careerism, abandoning even the idea of writing any poetry, really abandoning, giving up as hopeless-abandoning the possibility of really expressing yourself to the nations of the world. Abandoning the idea of being a prophet with honor and dignity, and abandoning the glory of poetry and just settling down tin the muck of your own mind…you have to make a resolution just to write for yourself… in the sense of not writing to impress yourself,
but just writing what your self is saying.” What an amazing thing he said!!

The Marma Spot:
You have worked on a nice amount of album art for many different bands/musicians. What are the last 5 albums you bought and the most
current 5 songs played from/on your iPod/iTunes?

Mike Mills:
Last Albums I bought: 1. Thomas Mapfumo 2. First Yeah Yeah Yeah
records (again) 3. Velvet Underground “Loaded”4. Scott Joplin best of
5. Robert Johnson best of. Last songs played all by S.E. Rogie’s record
“Palm Wine Guitar”.

The Marma Spot:
You have a new book out Mike Mills: Graphics/Films that covers your work from the last 10-15 years. Looking back on all of the work in this book,
what project was the most enjoyable to work on and why and which
project’s outcome do you like best.

Mike Mills:
That’s a hard question. It’s not really like that for me, it’s more of a process
or a mindspace that I’m in on a lot of projects that feels the most, how shall I
put it… healthy.

The Marma Spot:
With everything you work on, how do you keep it all organized?

Mike Mills:
Oh Fuck I don’t! I’m so glad I got that book done, it’s the best way to present a whole bunch of work. I do try to save everything, in flat files and boxes,
but it’s totally unorganized.

The Marma Spot:
Is there anything you would like to add that we haven’t already?

Mike Mills:
Remember life before the internet?

The Marma Spot:
Are there any people out there that you would like to send a
shout out to or respect?

Mike Mills:
Michael Polan, Lou Reed (except for the Supreme ads – but even then
I must admit, quite cunning and strategic), Dorthea Lange, Hans Haacke, Princess Leia, Josephine Baker, the fictional character “Thomas” from Unbearable Lightness of Being (especially at the end of the book), the girls in the film “Daisies”, Duane Peters circa 1980, Bowser the deceased dog,
my godson Cortez Cole, the mountain lions trapped in the Santa Monica mountains (especially P8), the piano player in “Don’t Shoot The Piano Player”, my dad’s friend Hal (so dignified), Fischli and Weiss.

The Marma Spot:
From us here at the Marma Spot thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to chat with us. It means a lot. peace+respect.
To see more of Mike Mills work click here.